Wireless communication devices, such as cellular or mobile telephones and other devices capable of wireless communication, are widely used throughout the world. Single mode communication devices are typically designed to communicate with one type of wireless communication network. Examples of wireless communications networks include GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communication), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). GSM networks are more commonly used in Europe and CDMA networks are more commonly used in the United States. CDMA systems operate by dividing a radio spectrum to be shared by multiple users through the assignment of unique codes. CDMA systems assign a unique code to each signal that is to be transmitted, and are thereby able to spread many simultaneous signals across a wideband spread spectrum bandwidth. Using the respective codes, the signals can then be detected and isolated from the other signals that are being transmitted over the same bandwidth.
The functionality of mobile telephones is steadily increasing, as new and improved features are offered in new mobile telephones. However, these new features may not be available to mobile telephone users unless the user purchases a new mobile telephone. Additionally, some features may be specialized and therefore desired only by a small percentage of mobile telephone users. Because of the limited demand, such specialized features may not be offered by a mobile telephone manufacturer as a standard feature in the manufacturer's mobile telephones. A solution that has been developed to enable mobile service providers and third parties to offer unique and specialized software applications is a removable user identity module (R-UIM). An R-UIM is a smart card that may contain user information, data features, and software applications. The R-UIM may be inserted in any mobile telephone capable of interfacing with an R-UIM, and may be transferred from one mobile telephone to another. A mobile telephone user may obtain specialized software applications that are stored on and execute from the R-UIM. The mobile telephone user may obtain such applications directly from the service provider or from the third party developer. For example, a third party may offer an application on an R-UIM that provides call-forwarding functionality for mobile telephones that do not already have that functionality.
The CDMA Card Application Toolkit (CCAT) is a standardized set of commands and procedures that enables applications that are stored on an R-UIM to interact with and operate any mobile telephone (also termed mobile equipment (ME) or mobile communication station) which is capable of accepting R-UIMs and supporting the CCAT. The CCAT enables applications on the R-UIM to function on any particular manufacturer's mobile telephone that supports the CCAT features.
In the command set of the CCAT, there are commands that enable the R-UIM to have the mobile telephone display text, play a defined sound, send an SMS (short message service) message, or initiate a telephone call (or other type of communication session), to list just a few examples. The CCAT specifies a CALL SETUP command to enable an application executing from the R-UIM to initiate a telephone call from the mobile telephone to the network (such a call is termed a mobile-originated (MO) call).
Capability configuration parameters are the bearer capability parameters or configuration that may be used by the CDMA physical layer or the multiplex sub-layer to enable call setup. The capability configuration parameters define, for example, the data rate, encoding/decoding, and sampling that will be used for communication between the mobile telephone and the network. Different call types (e.g., voice or data) typically require different capability configuration parameters.
Current CDMA specifications support the concept of service options on both the control and the traffic channels. Service options allow various voice and non-voice services to be defined independently within the confines of the physical layer and the multiplex sub-layer interface. Each service option defines the configuration and parameters used in physical layer and multiplex sub-layer for a specific call type. Approximately 50 service options have been defined for CDMA to date. These defined service options are used for negotiation between a mobile telephone and a network. Every time a mobile telephone connects to a network, the mobile telephone and the network must negotiate and agree on a service option to use for communication during that connection. The service options are defined in Administration of Parameter Value Assignments for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Standards—Release D (3GPP2 C.R1001-D, V1.0, Apr. 18, 2003). For example, service option 1 defines a basic variable rate voice service with a communication speed of 8 kbps, while service option 15 defines a packet data service with a communication speed of 14.4 kbps. Each service option is identified by a two byte (16 bit) service option binary number
The current CCAT specification does not specify CDMA capability configuration parameters. As such, when a CALL SETUP command from R-UIM is received by a mobile telephone, the mobile telephone is only capable of using the default configuration parameters for the physical and multiplex layers. Because only the default configuration parameters can be used, the types of telephone calls that can be initiated by CCAT applications executing from an R-UIM is limited to only speech calls. Data calls cannot be initiated by CCAT applications executing from an R-UIM, therefore the functionality of CCAT applications is limited. Furthermore, the CDMA2000 specification specifies a procedure for a mobile telephone and a mobile network to negotiate a mutually acceptable physical and multiplex layer configuration and mutually acceptable parameters. However, as the current CCAT specification does not specify capability configuration parameters, as discussed above, a CCAT application executing from an R-UIM is not able to negotiate physical and multiplex layer configuration and parameters with the mobile network and only the default configuration can be used by the CCAT CALL SETUP command.
As such, there is a need to expand the CALL SETUP function of CCAT applications to enable different call types, such as circuit data or packet data. Additionally, there is a need to enable the card application toolkit applications, such as a CCAT application, to negotiate a physical and multiplex layer configuration and parameters with the mobile network.